Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (8-0-1-0) welcomed the Victoria Grizzlies (7-5-0-0) to the South Okanagan Events Centre for the only time this season Saturday night, and sent them on their way empty handed as the Vees picked up the 4-2 win.
The scoring was opened by Lukas Sillinger a little over six minutes into the game. He took a feed from below the goal line and fired a shot blocker side on Zach Rose for his third of the year. Jared Nash and Jack Barnes got assists on the goal.
Three and a half minutes later, Grant Cruikshank got behind the Victoria defence and had a clear-cut breakaway. He made no mistake, sliding the puck through the five hole of Rose for his fourth of the season.
Victoria answered back quickly though, a two-on-one rush saw Alex Newhook centre for Justin Michaelian and he beat Adam Scheel on the glove side to make it 2-1 after 20 minutes. The shots were 12-3 in favour of the Vees.
Penticton extended their lead in the second period on a turnover behind the Victoria net. Rose came out to play the puck but took too long to shoot it around the boards. Jackson Keane came in on the forecheck, took the puck away and threw it in front for Dakota Boutin who had a wide-open net for his third of the year. After 40 minutes, the shots were 25-7 for Penticton.
The Vees extended their lead early in the third period with another breakaway goal. Chris Klack out muscled the Victoria defender before breaking in on Rose, sliding the puck along the ice blocker side for his second of the season.
The Grizzlies seem to gain life after the goal, and had a 10-minute stretch where they pressured the Vees. They were able to get one back after a cross-ice pass was intercepted at centre. Michaelian’s shot was stopped by Scheel on the odd-man rush, and Lucas Clark’s first rebound chance was stopped as well, but Scheel was helpless to stop the third rebound as Clark cut the lead down to 4-2 with 16 minutes to play in the game.
Despite a number of looks at the empty net, the Vees weren’t able to hit but still took the 4-2 win. The Vees now get set for their first three-game week of the season as they welcome the Langley Rivermen for the first Wicked Wednesday of the season next week. All admission is just $5.
